How did emancipated slaves rise from poverty to become
successful? This article examines the lives of Henry and Arabella Cook who were
likely slaves before the Civil War; both living near the southern Fairfax
County/Loudoun County border.

Keyes House, ca. 1884/5Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Places

THE COOKS

In 1870, Henry Cook was living near Arcola,
Virginia (in LoudounCounty) with his seven brothers and
sisters and his parents, Israel
and Caroline Cook.[1] The
actual location may have been closer to the FairfaxCounty border, near Pleasant Valley, Virginia.
In 1874, Israel Cook purchased 6 acres of land in FairfaxCounty
near the Frying Pan community from the Hanna family.[2] He
was deceased by 1880, and his widow and two youngest children continued to live
on the FairfaxCounty tract.[3]

Henry, born in October 1849, was the eldest of the children.
He, his parents, and siblings were all born in Virginia. When he was 22 years old, he
worked as a laborer. By then he knew how to read and write, though his parents
were illiterate.[4] In 1872,
Henry Cook married 18-year old Arabella Cook, who went by the nickname Belle. She
was born in March 1854.[5]

The Cooks purchased 3 acres of land in 1878 from George L. Howard
and A. B. Howard for sixty dollars near Henry’s parents’ property.[6] Their
property is identified on the Hopkins Map of 1878 by the name “Hy Cook.”

Henry and Arabella Cook did not immediately build a house on
the land. The census records of 1880 hint at the sacrifices made by the Cooks
as they worked for a successful future. Though married, Henry Cook lived in A.
B. Stowell’s household, and worked as a laborer, while Arabella Cook lived and
worked nearby in Conrad Shear’s household at Sully as a servant.[7]

Likely after saving up the funds through their separate
employments, the Cooks had a house constructed on their three-acre farm by
1885, the first year the building was assessed for taxes.[8] The
house was well constructed, and contained decorative hardware and moldings
similar to houses constructed during that period in the nearby Floris area. Over the
years, additions were constructed to the house. The house was originally
two-stories high with the gable end of the house facing the street. The house
was two bays wide in front, and two bays deep. Entrance into the house was
through the four-panel front door located on the northeast corner of the
dwelling. The first floor is composed of a large room dominated by a staircase
on the southern wall that leads to the upstairs bedrooms. An interior-end
chimney at the rear of the house allowed smoke from stoves to be carried away.

The location of the house is depicted on an 1885 road case
map. [Note: The current house address is 2516 Squirrel Hill Road, and is owned by
the Trustees of the Mount
PleasantBaptistChurch. The house is listed on the
Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Places as the Keyes House. William Keyes
purchased the house in 1925.[9]]

In 1900, Henry and Arabella Cook
were living with Alice Goodwin in Washington, D.C. Henry worked at a Dry Goods
Store, and Arabella worked as a cook.[10]
By 1910, the Cooks were back home working their home farm.[11]
The Cook’s may have owned and operated their own store near Floris, Virginia.
In 1922 Annabelle Cook sold the store, previously known as Orrison’s Store, to
Frances Shacklett, the same woman who would purchase the Cooks’ home two years
later.[12]

Henry Cook was involved with the
religious community, and very likely donated land for the Mount PleasantBaptistChurch, located north of
the present church. The land was part of the Israel Cook estate; Henry Cook
sold off the balance of the estate lands in 1910.[13] Arabella
Cook was also a church supporter. In her will, she donated $500 to have a
kitchen/dining room building constructed for the ChantillyBaptistChurch. This church was
located on land purchased from Conrad Shear, for whom Arabella had worked as a
servant.[14]
The kitchen/dining room building exists, and bears Arabella Cook’s name.

Henry and Arabella Cook did not
have any children, though they did have young relatives living with them for a
time while they attended school. Alfonso Neal, a cousin, was twelve years old
in 1910 when he was living with the Cooks. Mary F. Lee, another cousin, was
thirteen years old in 1920 when she was living with Arabella Cook.[15]

Henry Cook died, possibly in early 1917. His will was
probated February 14, 1917, and his list of heirs included his brother, Israel
Cook, 6 sisters, and 15 nieces and nephews.[16] In
1920, his widow, Arabella, was sixty-five years old and operating the home
farm. She owned her home free of a mortgage.[17]
How many among us today can say the same?